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Sulphur

A valid IMA mineral species - grandfathered
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About SulphurHide

Formula:
S8
As a Commodity:
Colour:
Yellow, sulphur-yellow, brownish or greenish yellow, orange, white
Lustre:
Resinous, Greasy
Hardness:
1½ - 2½
Specific Gravity:
2.07
Crystal System:
Orthorhombic
Member of:
Name:
A name in Middle English, introduced at least as early as 1390. Also known as brimstone. Theophrastus (~300 BCE) wrote μαλώδης (an otherwise unknown word) for what may be sulfur impregnated pumice, but Caley and Richards (1956) in their analysis and translation of Περι Λιθον ("Peri Lithon") suggest that the actual word should have been μηλώδης meaning quince-yellow. Other interpretations have been given.
Sulphur Group.

Crystals are usually yellow to yellowish-brown blocky dipyramids, with thick tabular and disphenoidal crystals less common. Also found more typically as powdery yellow coatings. Most native sulphur is found in sedimentary rocks, where large deposits are formed by reduction of sulfates, often biogenically. Sulphur is a common deposition product from volcanic gases associated with realgar, cinnabar and other minerals. It is also found in some vein deposits and as an alteration product of sulphide minerals.

Pagano (2002) reported laboratory grown sulphur crystals on white Sicilian matrix. Some specimens were very fine and indistinguishable from good natural specimens. If the crystals grew on a broken surface they could be dismissed as fakes as the crystals had to grow after the surface was broken in mining. In general, a sensitive test was given that indicated the presence of carbon disulfide, the medium in which the crystals were grown. The presence of bitumen on the matrix spoiled the process, so any such specimen is not faked this way. A year later Peterson, et al. (2003) showed that isotopic analysis could spot these fakes as the sulphur used was from a salt dome and not the sedimentary Sicilian deposit. Had the fakes been made with Sicilian sulphur, only the carbon disulfide test could expose them.

The systematic chemical name of this allotrope is octathiocane.




Unique IdentifiersHide

Mindat ID:
3826
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:1:3826:9
GUID
(UUID V4):
6444da40-d673-4fdd-bcc9-71c30297ebc7

IMA Classification of SulphurHide

Approved, 'Grandfathered' (first described prior to 1959)
IMA Formula:
S

Classification of SulphurHide

1.CC.05

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
C : Sulfur-selenium-iodine
Dana 7th ed.:
1.3.4.1
1.3.5.1

1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
1.51

1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)

Mineral SymbolsHide

As of 2021 there are now IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols (abbreviations) for each mineral species, useful for tables and diagrams.

SymbolSourceReference
SIMA–CNMNCWarr, L.N. (2021). IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols. Mineralogical Magazine, 85(3), 291-320. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43

Physical Properties of SulphurHide

Resinous, Greasy
Transparency:
Transparent, Translucent
Colour:
Yellow, sulphur-yellow, brownish or greenish yellow, orange, white
Streak:
Colourless
Hardness:
1½ - 2½ on Mohs scale
Hardness Data:
Measured
Tenacity:
Brittle
Cleavage:
Imperfect/Fair
Imperfect on {001}, {110} and {111}.
Parting:
Parting on {111}
Fracture:
Irregular/Uneven, Conchoidal
Comment:
Also can be somewhat sectile
Density:
2.07 g/cm3 (Measured)    2.076 g/cm3 (Calculated)

Optical Data of SulphurHide

Type:
Biaxial (+)
RI values:
nα = 1.958 nβ = 2.038 nγ = 2.245
2V:
Measured: 68° , Calculated: 70°
Max Birefringence:
δ = 0.287
Image shows birefringence interference colour range (at 30µm thickness)
and does not take into account mineral colouration.
Surface Relief:
Very High
Dispersion:
relatively weak r< v
Pleochroism:
Visible

Chemistry of SulphurHide

Mindat Formula:
S8
Common Impurities:
Se,Te

Crystallography of SulphurHide

Crystal System:
Orthorhombic
Class (H-M):
mmm (2/m 2/m 2/m) - Dipyramidal
Space Group:
Fddd
Cell Parameters:
a = 10.468 Å, b = 12.870 Å, c = 24.49 Å
Ratio:
a:b:c = 0.813 : 1 : 1.903
Unit Cell V:
3,299.37 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:
128
Morphology:
Over 50 forms have been noted, blocky dipyramidal ones most common, also tabular and sphenoidal; also found as powdery coatings, massive material, and in reniform and stalactic forms.
Twinning:
On {101}{011}{110} rare.

Crystallographic forms of SulphurHide

Crystal Atlas:
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Sulfur no.1 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Sulfur no.8 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Sulfur no.81 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Sulfur no.116 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
3d models and HTML5 code kindly provided by www.smorf.nl.

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Crystal StructureHide

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IDSpeciesReferenceLinkYearLocalityPressure (GPa)Temp (K)
0009945SulphurDavid W I F, Ibberson R M, Cox S F J, Wood P T (2006) Order-disorder transition in monoclinic sulfur: a precise structural study by high-resolution neutron powder diffraction Acta Crystallographica B62 953-95920060293
0010056SulphurRettig S J, Trotter J (1987) Refinement of the structure of orthorhombic sulfur, alpha-S8 Acta Crystallographica C43 2260-22621987synthetic0298
0010057SulphurRettig S J, Trotter J (1987) Refinement of the structure of orthorhombic sulfur, alpha-S8 Acta Crystallographica C43 2260-22621987synthetic0298
0011091SulphurCrichton W A, Vaughan G B M, Mezouar M (2001) In situ structure solution of helical sulphur at 3 GPa and 400 deg C Zeitschrift fur Kristallographie 216 417-4192001synthetic3673
0011255SulphurWyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York Crystal Structures 1 7-8319630293
0011256SulphurWyckoff R W G (1963) Second edition. Interscience Publishers, New York, New York Crystal Structures 1 7-8319630293
0012682SulphurTempleton L K, Templeton D H, Zalkin A (1976) Crystal structure of monoclinic sulfur Inorganic Chemistry 15 1999-20011976synthetic0293
CIF Raw Data - click here to close

X-Ray Powder DiffractionHide

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Radiation - Copper Kα
Data Set:
Data courtesy of RRUFF project at University of Arizona, used with permission.
Powder Diffraction Data:
d-spacingIntensity
3.85 Å(100)
3.44 Å(40)
3.33 Å(30)
3.21 Å(60)
3.11 Å(30)
3.08 Å(20)
2.84 Å(20)
2.62 Å(10)
Comments:
Data given are for synthetic material.

Geological EnvironmentHide

Paragenetic Mode(s):
Paragenetic ModeEarliest Age (Ga)
Near-surface Processes
24 : Authigenic minerals in terrestrial sediments (see also #17)
Stage 6: Anoxic biosphere<4.0
44 : Anoxic microbially mediated minerals (see also #44)
Stage 7: Great Oxidation Event<2.4
45a : [Sulfates, arsenates, selenates, antimonates]
Stage 10a: Neoproterozoic oxygenation/terrestrial biosphere<0.6
49 : Oxic cellular biomineralization (see also #44)<0.54
50 : Coal and/or oil shale minerals<0.36
Stage 10b: Anthropogenic minerals<10 Ka
54 : Coal and other mine fire minerals (see also #51 and #56)
Geological Setting:
Usually formed from volcanic action - as a deposition product from volcanic gasses associated with realgar, cinnabar and other minerals. It is also found in some vein deposits and as an alteration product of sulphide minerals. It can also be formed biogenically - a major source being salt domes, where it has formed by the bacterial decomposition of calcium sulfate.

Synonyms of SulphurHide

Other Language Names for SulphurHide

Afrikaans:Swawel
Albanian:Squfuri
Anglo-Saxon:Sulfur
Arabic:كبريت
Armenian:Ծծումբ
Asturian:Azufre
Aymara:Asuphri
Azeri:Kükürd
Basque:Sufre
Belarusian:Сера
Bosnian:Sumpor
Bulgarian:Сяра
Catalan:Sofre
Corsican:Zolfu
Croatian:Sumpor
Czech:Síra
Danish:Svovl
Dutch:Zwavel
Esperanto:Sulfuro
Estonian:Väävel
Farsi/Persian:گوگرد
Finnish:Rikki
French:Soufre
Friulian:Solfar
Galician:Xofre
Greek:Θείο
Guarani:Itaysy
Haitian:Souf
Hungarian:Kén
Icelandic:Brennisteinn
Ido:Sulfo
Indonesian:Belerang
Irish Gaelic:Sulfar
Italian:Zolfo
Solfo
Japanese:自然硫黄
Javanese:Welirang
Kannada:ಗಂಧಕ
Korean:
Kurdish (Latin Script):Kibrît
Latin:Sulphur
Latvian:Sērs
Limburgian:Solfer
Lithuanian:Siera
Lojban:Sliri
Low Saxon/Low German:Swevel
Luxembourgish:Schwiefel
Macedonian:Сулфур
Maori:Pungatara
Mongolian:Хүхэр
Norwegian:Svovel
Norwegian (Nynorsk):Svovel
Novial:Sulfre
Occitan:Sofre
Polish:Siarka
Portuguese:Enxofre
Quechua:Salina
Romanian:Sulf
Russian:Сера
Serbian:Сумпор
Serbo-Croatian:Sumpor
Sicilian:Sùrfuru
Simplified Chinese:自然硫
硫华
Slovak:Síra
Slovenian:Žveplo
Spanish:Azufre
Sundanese:Walirang
Swahili:Sulfuri
Swedish:Svavel
Traditional Chinese:自然硫
Turkish:Kükürt
Ukrainian:Сірка
Upper Sorbian:Syrik
Uzbek (Latin Script):Oltingugurt
Vietnamese:Lưu huỳnh
Welsh:Sylffwr
West Flemish:Sulfer
Yiddish:שװעבל

Varieties of SulphurHide

Selenium-bearing SulphurA Se-bearing variety of sulphur.
Tellursulphur

Relationship of Sulphur to other SpeciesHide

Member of:
Other Members of this group:
ClinosulphurS8Mon. 2/m : P21/b
RosickýiteSMon. 2/m : P2/b

Common AssociatesHide

Associated Minerals Based on Photo Data:
501 photos of Sulphur associated with CelestineSrSO4
447 photos of Sulphur associated with AragoniteCaCO3
420 photos of Sulphur associated with CalciteCaCO3
133 photos of Sulphur associated with GypsumCaSO4 · 2H2O
124 photos of Sulphur associated with BaryteBaSO4
118 photos of Sulphur associated with StibniteSb2S3
87 photos of Sulphur associated with GalenaPbS
80 photos of Sulphur associated with QuartzSiO2
59 photos of Sulphur associated with Bitumen
58 photos of Sulphur associated with AnglesitePbSO4

Related Minerals - Strunz-mindat GroupingHide

1.CC.ClinosulphurS8Mon. 2/m : P21/b
1.CC.05RosickýiteSMon. 2/m : P2/b
1.CC.10SeleniumSeTrig. 3 2 : P31 2 1
1.CC.10TelluriumTeTrig. 3 2 : P31 2 1
1.CC.15IodineI2

Other InformationHide

Thermal Behaviour:
With a low melting point of 113°C, sulphur burns readily in air, with a low blue flame, and gives off choking fumes of sulphur-dioxide - acrid odor (forms sulphurous and eventually sulphuric acid in air).
Health Risks:
No information on health risks for this material has been entered into the database. You should always treat mineral specimens with care.
Industrial Uses:
Used in a great many applications, ranging from matches and fireworks to rubber.

Internet Links for SulphurHide

References for SulphurHide

Localities for SulphurHide

This map shows a selection of localities that have latitude and longitude coordinates recorded. Click on the symbol to view information about a locality. The symbol next to localities in the list can be used to jump to that position on the map.

Locality ListShow

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